The Pony Express: Riders of Destiny
The Pony Express only operated for about 18 months, but the picture-perfect enterprise captured the imagination of a nation and has grown larger than life through the years.

Gambling in the Old West
Recreation in the Old West oftentimes meant betting on the turn of a deck of cards. But for many colorful Westerners, gambling was a serious, sometimes deadly, business.

Joe Palooka: A Comic Strip Character Goes to War
In 1940, one man saw the gathering war clouds and decided to forgo his career and enlist in the United States Army. His name was Joe Palooka-and he was a comic strip character.

The Fox Sisters: Spiritualism's Unlikely Founders
Out of the pranks of precocious sisters in upstate New York in 1847 grew a religious and social movement that swept across America. Often associated with abolition, suffrage and the brotherhood of all souls, spiritualism continued to evolve and flourish through the 20th century.

Molly MacGuires in Pennsylvania Coal Regions
A series of violent crimes was plaguing Pennsylvania's coal country. Mine owners placed the blame on a secret society of Irishmen--and took steps to wipe it out.

The Dewey-Berry Feud
Daniel Berry and his family were small farmers; Chauncey Dewey was a cattleman who ran a large ranch. Their visions crossed paths in northwest Kansas, with deadly results.

Death at Summit Springs: Susanna Alderdice and the Cheyennes
In May 1869, Tall Bull's Cheyenne Dog Soldiers carried out a series of brutal raids in north-central Kansas, and though the white soldiers later caught up with them, vengeance could not make everything right.

Apache Captives' Ordeal
When Apache warriors swooped down on the defenseless Oatman family in sunbleached Arizona in 1851, the harrowing nightmare was just beginning for Olive Oatman and her little sister Mary Ann.

A Lady's Life in the Gold Rush
From remote mining camps in northern California in the early 1850s, Louise ('Dame Shirley') Clapp wrote a series of vivid letters to her sister in New England.

Murder and Scandal in New Mexico: The Case of Ada Hulmes
The female piano player at Silver City's Monarch saloon shot down the fire chief who jilted her, sparking a colorful trial and a controversial stint in the territorial prison.